1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air conditioning system having additional safety features controlled by sensing elements for determining dangerous conditions in the form of fire, smoke or unusually high temperatures wherein the safety features are directed to the elimination of damage or the safety of occupants from the abnormal conditions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous prior art air conditioning facilities are commercially available for the regulation of the temperature and/or humidity as well as other conditions of the air within a given room or area. Generally, such prior art facilities force air from an exterior source, such as atmosphere, to be passed through a given housing and exposed to temperature regulating air conditioning means of numerous varieties which are well known in the art. After temperature regulation and possibly humidity regulation through the exposure of the incoming conditioned air to various liquid sources, the air is directed into the room or given area or space to be conditioned.
The vast majority of such air conditioning systems are designed exclusively for the regulating of the temperature and/or humidity conditions of the incoming air and are not designed to incorporate highly desirable safety features in the case of abnormal conditions such as fire, smoke or unusually high temperatures. A possible exception to this is the incorporation of certain sensing means in prior art devices whereby the air conditioning system will shut down in order to eliminate the incoming feed or flow of exygen to a room being conditioned. The theory of shutting down such a system would be to eliminate a fresh supply of oxygen to a fire in an effort to control the fire by smothering it or removing the required source of combustible oxygen.
Conventionally, fire protection in buildings or any type of enclosed structure was usually accomplished by such safety devices as a conventional sprinkler system wherein sprinklers are mounted on the ceiling of a given room or throughout a building structure. Each of the individual sprinkler heads of the system comprises a heat or smoke sensing element whereby water or an applicable fluid is directed from the sprinkler head upon the sensing of a predetermined heat, fire or smoke within the surrounding atmosphere of the sprinkler head. It has been only relatively recently that the fact has been discovered that most casualties of a fire within a given structure are due to smoke inhalation, etc. Accordingly, recent designs and developments in safety equipment for fires have been concentrating on or directed to the ventilation and air pressure control measures concerned primarily with the control of the spread of smoke created in a given enclosed area or building structure during the fire. It is now accepted that, in order to control such smoke, it is required to maintain a higher air pressure within a given enclosed area thereby creating a refuge within the enclosed area due to the fact that the increased pressure prevents the ingress of smoke to the defined area.
Accordingly, a number of the prior art conditioning systems which have been designed to eliminate or shut down the flow of air intake, are not directed to the prevention or elimination of smoke spreading throughout a given confined area where a fire exists.
Similarly, conventional sprinkler systems now being utilized are designed for the combating of an existing fire or the like through "drowning" a given area in an attempt to put out the fire. Many of the presently existing sprinkler systems are not designed to establish an area of refuge through being utilized in combination with an air pressurized system wherein the spreading of smoke is reduced or eliminated.
Accordingly, there is an obvious need in the industry for an air conditioning facility comprising, in combination, various systems which can economically effect a high degree of personal safety in occupied building perimeter spaces, such as hotels, hospitals, office rooms, or residences. The capabilities of such an air conditioning facility should be not only to regulate the temperature and/or humidity of incoming air for the comfort of the occupants of a given room, but also to create an area of refuge in each room or space in the event a fire or smoke condition exists.